


To Be A Hero

by K_A_Drew



Category: Iron Man (Movies), Marvel Cinematic Universe, Spider-Man (Tom Holland Movies), The Avengers (Marvel Movies)
Genre: BAMF Laura Barton, Because small towns suck, But we still love them, Coming Out, Coming of Age, Cooper and Lila don't know how to socialize, Dorks in Love, Eventual Happy Ending, F/F, F/M, Fluff and Angst, Growing Up Together, Happy middle for the most part, Implied/Referenced Homophobia, Internalized Homophobia, M/M, Meme Lord Shuri (Marvel), Mutual Pining, Not Canon Compliant, Peter Parker is Tony Stark's Biological Child, Redemption, Science Bros, Shy Cassie Lang, T'Challa (Marvel) Is a Good Bro, Tony Stark Acting as Harley Keener's Parental Figure, at first, but it gets better, for several characters, i would know, not team Cap friendly
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-06-13
Updated: 2020-06-28
Packaged: 2021-03-04 00:13:23
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 3
Words: 7,757
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24704362
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/K_A_Drew/pseuds/K_A_Drew
Summary: Harley had no family,Cassie's was rebuilding,Shuri's was missing a piece,Peter's was in some weird limbo,And Lila and Cooper's was just plain broken.Tony had seen it before. Six individuals from varying backgrounds with different abilities coming together to be the greatest. That could have been the Avengers, but one falling out later and the wounds left behind seemed as if they'd never heal. Now these kids were dealing with the aftermath, and Tony refused to let history repeat itself.Every hero has an origin story, and every hero has a team, this was theirs.Iron Family centric, but also focuses on the other kids and their families.Takes place a year after Civil War.
Relationships: Cassie Lang & Scott Lang, Clint Barton & Cooper Barton & Laura Barton & Lila Barton & Nathaniel Pietro Barton, Harley Keener & Tony Stark, Harley Keener/Peter Parker, Pepper Potts/Tony Stark, Peter Parker & Tony Stark, Shuri & T'Challa (Marvel)
Comments: 8
Kudos: 76





	1. Prologue

For some reason Tony despised the book in his hands. Hated the childish sketches of the avengers, the idiolistic words, he hated the thoughts it installed in his precious child's head. That he too could one day become a superhero, which struck Tony with so much fear he had to force himself through the reading every night. 

To Be A Hero

Peter, despite reading the book, for over a year now, was still giddy as he climbed in bed beside his dad. Maybe he was too old for storytime now, being nine, but every once in a while he allowed himself to let that go so his dad could read to him. 

The book wasn't challenging, targeted for first graders, and with Peter's intelligence it was almost laughable that he still picked it; but it was one of the only pieces of media that portrayed his dad as a hero. Not Iron Man, but his dad. 

So yes he would probably read this book until the end of time, and because of that Tony kept his disdain hidden from his son. Praying that every time little Peter declared that he too would one day be Iron Man, it was nothing more than a pipe dream. Like being a rockstar or a princess. 

"I may not be Captain America, but I am brave like Steve Rogers," Peter read aloud gazing up at his dad like he wrote the book himself. It was a look Tony wasn't always sure he deserved. 

\-----

She was young when her dad was first taken away, too little to be left without the one man who protected her, but she coped. There was her mom and eventually her stepdad, but really nothing felt right for a long time. 

Through most of her childhood her opinions of her dad differed. When he was first locked up she was just a kid, and loved him having no clue why he was taken away. She couldn't comprehend why no one else could see the good father that he was. 

A few years into his arrest and she grew resentful even as a small child. She knew he stole, but that was the extent of it. Back then it was like greed was more important than her. She refused to visit him for months, and upon returning to their weekly meetups separated by glass she was cold. 

When she was older, still too young to deal with this kind of trauma, she learned there was some nobility in what he did. That it was because bad people were taking advantage of the weak. At that point Robin Hood had become her favorite movie because it reminded her of her daddy. 

She was ten when he was released, but she couldn't understand why nothing went back to normal. 

He was forgiven right?

Well not right away, her dad apparently had a record of acting and never thinking anything through, at least that's what her mom said. 

But you know, he then saved the world, and you can't really be mad at a guy who saves the world. She loved him, really she loved their odd ball family. He was a true hero, but no one knew. 

"Storytime peanut," he whispered, sitting carefully on the edge of the bed already holding her favorite book. 

Most nights she insisted he read it, and he did even though it felt odd to do so. It wasn't the story, but the way Cassie read over the words with such pride like she thought he belonged on the pages with them. 

Tonight though, she read aloud proudly. "I may not be a god, but I am mighty like Thor." Scott was aware of his daughter's idolized visions of what the heroing gig was, what she thought he did, but he had no clue how to handle it. 

It wasn't just the thrill that must've come with the job, but the fact that he was just an ordinary man. She filled with hope every time she thought that maybe one day fate could play her the same cards. 

"What's it like to be a hero, daddy?" She asked. 

He just smiled sadly realizing how much she adored him. One day it was going to hit her that he was not an avenger, and that he did not deserve that adoration. 

"I wouldn't know sweetheart."

\-----

The vibrant skies of Wakanda did not scream that it was time to sleep to Shuri. She saw light in the sky, and took that as a sign to keep working. Her mother and father did not think the same thing, but it was her big brother who drug her away from her desk. 

"Just a few more minutes!" She pleaded trying to claw her way back to her desk, but her brother was too strong, and with one sharp glare from her mom she stopped struggling and crawled in bed. “How about a story?” Her father had asked settling in beside her, and her mom already held the book she knew her daughter would want. 

She giggled, grabbed the book, and scooted closer to her dad. Currently he was not Wakanda’s armoured hero, but he was still a hero in what he did as king. She thought the work he did inside was sometimes more admirable. 

There were some nights when the childish pictures bored Shuri beyond belief, and there were others when she scowled at it for it lacked anything of her brother. Tonight though she wanted to think of heroes, so she slept with them filling her dreams. 

In this life she understood there was no place for her in the hero world, not even in their lovely Wakanda, but that did not mean the adventures had to be cleaned from her mind. She had no super strength, nor any other powers, but she had found her mind was stronger than that of even the strongest person. 

“Heroes save people,” her father had told her when she had asked about T’Challa and his duties. She wanted that.

So if there was no way for her to help in the field of action then she would equip those who did with the greatest weapons, armor, and anything else they needed. She would design things with her specific strength that would save lives. 

“I may not be as strong as the Hulk, but I have a mind like Bruce Banner.”

\-----

Her dad was always leaving.

And always with a bow strapped to his back. 

Just for short periods of time, nothing longer than a month, but he still did it. He had a job, and she knew that, but none of her friends had parents that left for work. So why did hers?

She got her answer when she was barely nine. In the form of her dad fighting aliens with that bow he took every time he left. It didn't matter that he was a superhero, from that moment on she hated that bow. 

Cooper was the exact opposite. 

He marvelled in his dad's presence, and always eagerly sat while Clint relived each story with him. Usually Lila sat across from then her ears covered, her face always twisted sourly. 

Training, it was mostly just fun back then, started when he was ten. When he showed no sign of being a prodigy with a bow his dad was a little disappointed, but Aunt Nat sure was smug when he made up for that in hand to hand combat. Sometimes they spent hours in the barn goofing around, Lila occasionally snooping on them clearly jealous, but too proud to admit it. 

Laura always had to force them in, and into the showers to get rid of the sweaty barn smell. After every night ended the same. Lila and him tucked into their beds, and their mom and dad sat with one with a story. 

Clint mumbled something about the drawings making him look fat, something he still complained about, but settled in beside his daughter. 

"I may not have eyes like Hawkeye, but I am loyal like Clint Barton." Lila read proudly this being the one book she could look at. It wasn't the hero she saw in the pages, but her dad, someone who was very much less daunting. 

The kiss to her cheek was typical, but it still threw her off guard. After two weeks of him being gone Lila had grown used to his absence beside her, and just when she would start to adjust back he would leave again. 

"I may not fight like Black Widow, but I am cunning like Natasha Romanoff." Cooper followed after her no longer needing to see the pages of the Avengers drawn in bright whimsical watercolors. 

For a second they were normal, and they savored it, because the next day the chance would be gone. 

\-----

They had been working for a good hour when Tony's vision had started to blur, but he couldn't slow down considering he was stuck in a garage, in the middle of Podunk whatever, with a child as his only colleague. 

It wasn't the best of circumstances, but the urge to get back to Pepper, to Peter, was enough to keep him going. Probably so much so that he was starting to see Peter's things in Harley's garage. 

And of course it was that goddamn book. 

Harley saw the mechanic eye the book he had left out, and he suppressed the urge to shove it away. That would only make him look more suspicious. "It's my sister's," he said. Tony just hummed pretending to accept that answer, but a smile did threaten to take over as the boy, who was only a few months older than Peter, bowed his head to hide his blush. 

"Cool, my son, he's about your age, has the same book," Tony explained knowing very well that it was a cop out to sound cool. He did the same thing at that age. "We read it together."

Harley's eyes moved slowly across the garage hesitant to see if Tony was baiting him. Tony Stark was a hero not a bully, but the bruising on his side reminded him to be cautious. Of everything…

"I've never had anyone to read it with," Harley mumbled eyes shooting back down to what he was working on once he was sure Tony wouldn't make fun of him. "Well I think we could use a break." He stood up going to sit on the cool concrete floor taking the book not waiting for Harley to join him. 

Eventually he did build up the courage to drop the project he was working on, and join the man on the floor. Why he was so eager to be more caring than both his parents, Harley couldn't figure out. His mom could have run off like his dad, and he would never know the difference. 

Something was bothering the mechanic as Harley flipped through the pages, but he had no clue it was because he gazed at the picture book the same way his son did. Why children looked at the world of heroing with rose tinted glasses was a mystery. Did they not understand the destruction? The death and horror that followed each of them?

In some ways Tony felt he caused more harm than he was worth.

Children couldn't possibly understand that, but he wished they could. 

"I may not have a suit like Iron Man, but I am smart like Tony Stark." Harley's smirk said, 'that's you', feeling ashamed for the eyes that said I want to be Iron Man he looked anywhere but at the child. 

How many children would he kill because he decided to get ambitious?

\-----

Most nights six children tucked into bed, and read a story of heroes they idolized with the heroes they worshipped by their sides. They treasured the time they had, but had no clue it would not last for long. That the heroes they worshipped would soon be the people that wrecked their lives.


	2. Chapter 1

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I know this chapter is a bit sense because it's lacking dialogue, but I promise after this it gets better.

The inside of a jail cell wasn’t a place she wanted to get used to, even if it was just a holding cell. With her family track record it was a dangerous situation to even play with once. She only left the farm for an hour or two, not long enough to cause trouble and definitely not long enough for her mom to notice. That plan changed, obviously.

Lila Barton wasn’t a bad person, and no one in this building planned on treating her like one. If anything they thought she was a misguided teenager seeking attention.

Which she wasn’t.

She didn’t need her dad around when playing fugitive was clearly much more compelling, and she really didn’t mind that her mom seemed to be focusing on her brothers more every day. So, no, this was definitely not a cry for help.

“Lila Edith Barton!” She rolled her eyes at the guards who jumped as her mother stormed around the corner, she just sat back no longer bothered. Theoretically she did nothing wrong, and knew that would be her saving grace, her mom was only freaking out because she felt the familiarity too. 

The process of releasing her was fairly simple, and the police of the small town she had found as her salvation had been more accommodating then she would’ve thought. Vigilantism was technically illegal, but no one was killed and she saw that as a plus. It was also a first time offense since no one anywhere had any record of her. 

“Go get in the car,” her mom growled slowly, her eyes switching from deadly to sickeningly kind in milliseconds turning on her mom charm for the officer helping them. 

Once in the car Lila soured more. In the back in his car seat was a smug Nathaniel who relished any opportunity when he wasn’t the one in trouble, and in the front looking down on her was her big brother Cooper. His thoughts were easily readable, how could you after the year we’ve had?

Which was exactly what he was thinking. 

Life had been hard, and she had been especially difficult. Sure he had been spending more time than necessary out in the barn training, but when their dad did return he wanted him to be proud of something. Lila wouldn’t even look at the bow she had gotten for her birthday a few years back and despised the superhero gig, for unknown reasons, so the fact that she was the one to engage in something heroic first was startling.

He wasn’t jealous, she had done it wrong after all, but he had been working hard and had nothing to show for it. At least Lila had saved someone's life even if she-

“Do you want to tell me why you jumped in front of a gun?” She shrugged it really wasn’t that big of a deal. Yes, she broke his arm, and yes, it was technically illegal. Oh well, though this wasn’t something she was going to make into a habit after all.

"He was going to shoot that guy," she retorted back at her mom who jumped into the car. 

"So you thought hey let's let him shoot me?"

Cooper wasn't blind, their mom was stressed, trying to start Nathaniel's homeschooling while making sure he got his stuff done. Lila had always been the responsible one, so mom gave her space. His sister must have been too busy pouting over dad to notice, and thought everyone was neglecting her. 

She just didn't understand that sometimes she was too much person for them to handle, and that's why Cooper tried his very best to blend and not bother his parents. All he wanted was for them, especially his dad, to tell him he did a good job. 

Once they had arrived back at the farm, Laura rushed all of them off to bed, but she didn't plan on getting any sleep tonight. Something had to be done to make sure no one came after Lila, it was time she stepped in. She had one child that refused to acknowledge the life, yet somehow it called to her; and she had another that fully immersed himself in it. 

She pulled out her phone, and dialed the one number in her contacts that she had never used since the day it was given to her. 

"Hi, Mr. Stark? It's Laura Barton, and I've got a bit of a problem."

\-----

“That’s not fair!” Cassie cried aware of how childish she must have seemed. "It's been a year! Why can't you just accept the fact that I want to see him?"

"I have let you see him," her mom argued back, her voice remaining calm despite her daughter's quickly rising temper, "but I can't afford to send you to New York for the weekend." 

The urge to continue shouting, and fight by coming up with excuses rose from her gut, but it never came out. For nearly a year her dad had been living under house arrest at his place in San Francisco. It was great because she got to see him, and her mom and Jim were more than willing to comply because they saw it as a way for him to get better. 

They were all proud of him, for what he did and for the way he was handling the aftermath. 

The problem came in when the Avengers requested he finish his house arrest at the compound, in New York. It was so he could train as well, so once it was all over they could consider making him a full fledged Avenger. 

Her mom had tried to explain that it was a debt issue. That her dad had caused a lot of trouble for Team Iron Man, as her classmates had dubbed them. It was cool, but still didn't seem fair. One Avenger took him away and got him in trouble, but just when she had gotten him back another swooped in to do the same. 

Except now at least he was trying to help. 

She felt anger boil and bubble in her gut, but stinging tears filled her eyes confusing her on what she truly felt. When she could see clearly again she was met with her mother's horrified gaze. She didn’t understand until her head hit the ceiling, then a quick survey of her surroundings and suddenly enlarged body told her what was happening.

Well… not really. 

“Honey?” Maggie asked slowly, aware that her daughter was bent in half to stop herself from going through the ceiling. “Don’t freak out okay? It’s going to be okay, I’m going to get help.” First she called Hope knowing she would be able to get there the fastest, and then she dialed a number she never believed she’d have to use.

“Hi, Mr. Stark? It’s Maggie, Scott’s ex. I know when you gave me your number you never thought I’d use it, but I need to talk to Scott.”

\-----

She said it once and she would say it again. There was nothing self destructive about locking oneself in one's lab for hours on end. “That is ridiculous,” her brother scowled like he was reading her mind, but in reality could just see her face. Why could he not understand there were improvements to be made and too much work to do?

“You must get out sometime.” That was always his reason, same with their mother. Apparently she wasn’t socializing properly locked away in the labs, but did they forget about all the other people that occupied the space? Sure they were twice her age, she shamelessly bossed them around, and they left when she planned on staying much longer.

It was still socializing.

She sneered going over the blueprints for her latest designs rather than acknowledging him, she just wished her boredom with his presence bothered him more. “I thought I scoffed too much at tradition to do such a thing?” Very visibly T’Challa cringed. 

Shuri was different. She studied American culture, basing several of her designs off of their imagined ideas, she disregarded ceremonial dress preferring to match the styles of most teens her age, and thanks to being isolated behind royal walls she learned most of her social skills from the internet. 

All of these things were reasons why she believed her mother and brother had kept her close, but really she was the one that stuck closely to them and the walls of the lab and palace. These were safe places she was sure she could be herself in, and while she seemed like an over confident nerd she was like everybody else. 

"Mother worries for you," he said. His feet carried him across the floor; she stood at her desk only her eyes catching sight of his lower half as he drew closer. "I see you're wearing your sandals."

"And I see you're changing the subject." 

“What do you want from me T'Challa? It seems like anything I do, I do wrong anymore.” Her father was dead, a year did not change that pain, but the one place she felt safe was down here surrounded by the few things she could control. 

Sure, she had lacked friends and a girlfriend something she had dreamed of, but deemed unnecessary until she felt she reached her full potential. There would be time for friends and dating when she had supplied their warriors with everything they needed

Once again her mind wrapped around her blasters and dissecting them, she didn’t even see T’Challa leave. In the hall of the lab he grabbed his phone and made a call.

“Tony? It’s T’Challa, you remember my sister right?”

\-----

He had never run so fast in his life, one reason being he sucked at running. However he had to get home, to try and smooth things over before his mom left for work. When it rains it pours because the day started off fine, he only got in trouble for warping the cables of the computers in the lab, and lunch wasn’t completely unappetizing. 

But he didn’t know how to shut his stupid mouth.

One off handed comment to a bully, and suddenly pictures that had been taken from from the school computer surfaced on the school facebook page. Of his private emails to Tony. Where he had talked about coming out. He knew it was E.J., it wasn't hard to get into each other's accounts their usernames were their last names and the passwords were required to be school, so it didn't take a super genius. He should've known better, but who would stoop that low?

He didn’t really regret beating the kid to a pulp.

Especially since the expulsion that came with it wouldn’t mean anything to his mom if he didn’t get to her before she heard. 

It seemed the whole population of Rose Hill stood out to watch him run home. They were probably shaking their heads, clutching to their bibles they believed could cleanse everything. He didn't mind the Bible, he didn't follow it, but he also knew there were people outside of this hell that did and weren't cruel stuck in the past people. 

Finally he rounded the corner, his house right in front of him, and he almost breathed a sigh of relief.

Until he saw most of his things carelessly thrown on the front porch. 

He raced up the steps tripping over each thing, but his fist still reached the door. He might’ve pounded until his fists bled, but he had no clue why. The life he had was slipping through his fingers, and even though he hated it, the part of him that was scared didn’t want it to change. 

“Mom! Mom, please open up!” He screamed unashamed of doing so since all of his private thoughts were already out. Movement whispered on the inside of the house, but after an hour no one answered, and he made no move to get in through a window even though he could have. 

Everyone in the small town knew the truth now. He had always aggravated them, no one could understand how far his mind reached, but now they had a reason to resent him. So no, no one would come to help him. Even the hope held in his heart that his sister would come and help was pointless, and he wouldn’t want her to defy their mother for her own safety.

There was nowhere to go here, but here had never been his place. He thought of the one person who had always been there for him. Who had never missed a birthday, who sent him random gifts, and who dealt with all the trouble he caused.

Sometimes there were tendencies within him to avoid help. He didn’t need anyone, but there might be one person in the world who he wanted to help him. So he pulled out his latest Stark phone, one of those gifts.

“Hey, Tony? Wait, you’re already on your way?  
\-----

Peter was living one big lie, and the best part was he was doing so while everyone believed him to be a terrible liar. Perhaps that was why it all worked so perfectly. Most days he could blend into the walls of his super genius school, just another nerd in the crowd who had the same shoes as the guy who sat across from him in chemistry. 

He was so good, sometimes he really believed the life he built up in his head. That he was just Peter Parker and not Tony Stark's son, that he didn't swing around the city in red and blue spandex, and that he actually liked girls. 

Well, liked girls more than he liked guys. 

It’s not like he felt the need to stay in the closet, his dad might have been the biggest LGBTQ+ advocate out there, and his school was as diverse as it got. So it wasn’t fear that kept his mouth shut, but perhaps he was just used to hiding parts of himself.

His dad knew two of his biggest secrets, obviously that he was his son, and secondly that he was Spiderman. He might’ve had better luck coming out though than revealing his identity. It was no secret his father loathed the life despite always going back to it, his dad really couldn’t blame him for wanting to adventure out into himself.

And it wasn’t like he asked the spider to bite him. 

Nor did he actually ask to go to Germany, that was entirely on his dad. 

Now that he thought about it there were a lot of things in life he didn't ask for. He never asked to be hidden from the world, his dad just decided for him which seemed a little unfair. He also never asked to like guys as well, not that he was complaining. 

"Penis!" Peter had almost forgotten he was at his locker gathering his stuff to come home, so caught up in his internal monologue he didn't beat Flash out of the school. 

There was a hand that connected to his back forcefully pushing, and because he was just puny penis Parker to these jerks he just let himself fall. His cheek collided with the locker, and by the time he was sprawled out on the ground the goons had left him laughing and clapping each other on the back as they went. 

He would've stood, but his senses continued to flare, and before he could understand why his arms flew up above his head to catch the textbook that would've otherwise hit him. A few pencils sprung off the hardcover and the ground, but he just watched the empty hall in absolute horror. 

Captain America was standing in front of him, and the textbook still resting in his hands was no longer that, but a boarding bridge. The image of the man he considered his childhood hero quickly morphed into that of the Vulture, and suddenly he crumbled under the book's weight stuck on his back gasping for air waiting for the ceiling above him to collapse. 

"Bud?" 

That was his dad, but he wasn't there. When had he hit the panic button on his watch? "Dad?" He whispered the feeling in his body slowly returning as his dad's voice snapped him out of his daytime nightmare. 

"Just breathe with me, I promise I'm about to make everything better."

\-----

If somebody would have told him, someone probably did but he most likely pulled the genius card and ignored them, that teenagers were nuisances than his Playboy days would have ended before they began. He also would have refrained from unofficially adopting another one 

He had one who refused to fight, and another that did so too willingly. They were kindred spirits both determined to give him gray hairs in different ways. He went to go pick one up because he had just gotten himself expelled, and Peter panic called him because he was having an anxiety attack. 

He would go to the end of the world and back for these boys, but with everything else going on sometimes he yearned for that normal life. A life where his son wouldn't be showing signs of early ptsd at the age of fifteen, a life where he could show how committed he was to his family because the gig wouldn't be taking him away. 

But life wasn't a fairytale, and his life could not be more stressful.

He just had to look at his phone.

Three missed calls


	3. Chapter 2

None of them wanted to be there. Stuck in a cramped conference room blacked out and hidden from the workers that littered the compound No one could know what was going on, who was there, or what they were talking about. The subjects were too precious.

Tony found the energy coming from the other adults to be restraining. They had introduced themselves, gotten passed the formalities, but at the same time no progress had been made. They still avoided the big topic like two magnets repulsing each other. 

The documents laid out in front of each of them were the only reminders of what they needed to do. 

Maggie refused to look at them, despite her husband’s best efforts. She tried, but even he noticed the fear that controlled her movements. T’Challa and his mother were already aware of what was inside the documents along with Scott, and ironically enough Laura Barton was the one who actually picked it up and read it.  
Her loud scoffs and disappointed while venomous laughter was not the reaction he was hoping for. 

“No,” Maggie finally broke their ten minute silence, “I can’t do this. I don’t want this bloodsucking life to become the only thing she knows, and I thought you felt the same Scott.”  
“I do, but things have changed, and Tony and I talked it over-“His voice faded in Maggie’s mind, and Jim’s prodding became a simple background action as she finally zoned in on the Accords. Was she alone in here? Was she completely selfish and foolish for just wanting to shield her little girl? Cassie could barely look adults in the eye without passing out, how was she supposed to handle this?

There was something in her husband’s eyes; him and Scott were doing that talk around her thing again. “Sweetheart,” Jim was desperate if he was using pet names, “we need to consider this. Cassie couldn’t even attend the last two weeks of school because she couldn’t keep her size controlled.”

“She can learn control from Hope…” who won’t suck her into a group only to leave her high and dry. Sure, she had called Mr. Stark, but only to get in contact with Scott who currently had no cell of his own. There wasn’t supposed to be a meeting, and propositions for group training weren’t supposed to be possibilities. Thankfully no one had to sign the Accords right now, since all the kids were underage, but they had to understand them because one day they would become relevant.

“This isn’t recruitment.”

No it’s summer camp, she thought bitterly.

She wanted to trust these people, they had surely done wonders for Scott after locking him up in an illegal confinement prison, but at the same time why would they want to protect her daughter? 

The King, who sat so casually beside her had helped construct these documents, he had power to protect himself and his sister if something went south; and Tony Stark for as kind as he seemed constructed the whole thing including the building they stood in. They had power, and she didn’t.

Tony could see that Maggie was struggling to trust him, and he didn’t blame her. He was the one person who knew all of their secrets, while none of the others did, and somehow everything he wanted private remained so.

“You can’t just take it away.” The disappointed understanding, the recognition, the tired resentment were all looks he got; but they all understood. “I did that and the situation got ten times worse."

With Harley it was different. He didn’t have authority to take the armor away, nor did he want to excessively encourage the activity; so he watched. Probably more than he should have, and left his power with his silence for once leaving the boy in the dark over the fact that he knew. 

They were all concerned parents, so try to relate to them, he reasoned with himself. There was a way he could give them a part of himself, but were they there yet? Not even his last team knew of Peter, and while he was eager to put himself out there tired of hiding, Tony was still hesitant. They had worked in privacy for so long why screw that up?  
These people weren’t superheroes, only T’Challa and Scott were his teammates, but they were different. He had already established that.

“Nothing we say leaves this room, “he breathed out. The arguing halted between Maggie, Jim, and Scott. Laura stopped her angered reading, and T’Challa and his mother both sat up straighter hearing Tony’s voice laced with strain. He couldn’t believe he was about to do this, risk everything after years of perfect planning. “I’m sure you’re aware of the rumors.” He doesn’t know where to go from there with the magnitude of gossip that encircles his name, but he specifically thinks of the news outlets that conspirizaed that he had a child. With his frequent visits to Tennessee it was believed he lived. Tony supposed that one could be considered partially correct.

“Spiderman, I,” he paused again considering his words. “I took his suit away; he ended up on the side of my plane and later under a building in nothing but dingy pajamas. We have to realize the second these kids get something in their heads they’re not going to change, but we can help alter that thought process. Now that I’m not acting like the situation doesn’t exist I’ve been able to help Spiderman train, he’s a lot better for it. That’s why I haven’t yet taken steps to take away this other kids Iron Man suit he’s built, but I’m hoping this program will be the push I need to actually help him as well.”

“I didn’t know Spiderman was a kid.” It was the Queen Mother her voice grave, but in a way the little doubt that sat within her seemed to vanish. 

It was now or never. That was basically an opening right? 

“He is. He’s my kid.”

Silence fell in the room once again. T’Challa wanted to laugh, he had known the dude long enough he thought them close enough to do such a thing, he learned quickly that Tony made jokes as a way to levitate tension, but there was no hint of such a thing in his expression. None of them knew how to respond, and Tony understood that, they were almost sixteen years too late to say congratulations. 

Something clicked, snapped into place, in Laura’s eyes. The Accords were returned to their spot on the table, and she set her sight on him. It wasn’t only her, even Maggie was easing up, perhaps if he was willing to try this with his kids she could allow him to try and help hers. 

“I’m on board,” Laura mumbled, but before anyone could react she stood her gratitude short lived. Tony shared a look with T’Challa, a quick ‘can you finish this?’ When the King nodded a small smirk growing Tony scrambled after the mom.

The sight that met him was shocking. In the office she had appeared composed, overly judgy if he thought anything considering she was laughing. Now she was pressed against the wall a single tear rolling down her cheek, but she viciously wiped it away leaving behind a pissed off face. He may have only encountered the woman once, but her sweet motherly, a little conniving with that barn trick, persona made it seem like such feelings were out of her realm. Then on the phone two weeks back she sounded fearful.

Pissed off was completely new territory. 

“Thank you,” he said joining her on the wall. His mere presence seemed to make her sink, so only slightly mocking in a friendly manner he did the same. “Did my husband even read the Accords?” She finally asked staring angrily at the wall across from them. Her foot rubbed the floor, and Tony couldn’t decide if it was his face or Clint’s she was squashing to death. 

“I don’t know,” he said honestly.

“I was reading them, and I’m sorry if it came off the wrong way, but I just couldn’t believe he gave up everything over those documents that seem completely reasonable to me.”  
“Well that’s the latest revision, I think after a year of tweaking and taking time to make them what they need to be they finally work.”

“Why couldn’t he do that?” For a second Laura slipped back into looking sad her voice twanged with hurt, but the angered tension never left her shoulders. It was a question he had asked himself countless times already, he didn’t have an answer. The poor woman was going through so much, and all Tony could feel was guilt for not reaching out sooner.  
How Clint could go off the wall and leave her to fend for herself he would never understand. Little Nathaniel would barely remember his dad if this nonsense continued, Lila resented him already, soon enough Cooper would too, and it was clear Laura was driving herself into the ground to take care of all of them by herself. 

The emotions she continued to swim through were impressive, but it only Made Tony more concerned. “I will pay for the best lawyers in this country- no scratch that, the world if…” Her sad but appreciative smile makes Tony’s words ram into each other. He can’t understand where this mood shift came from as the fear, of surely the uncertainty right now, controls her features again.

“You’re going to think I’m terrible-“

“I won’t,” he said pulling her eyes from the deeply colored veins running across her arms that seemed to hold answers even though they possibly couldn’t. How could she continue to live as she has when Clint had decided to throw that life to the side? Well, she still loved him despite that, which was what made her stick it out the last year. There was hope nestled in a private part of her heart that believed he would return like he had so many times before.

“I can’t do… that, at least not yet.” Unspoken words settled between them where they still sat on the floor, and Laura glares at a tiny intern who happens to be passing by. The word divorce spins around her head, she knows it was what Tony was implying, but she wasn’t there.

She loved him, but she was starting to realize she didn’t love what she did for him. Nearly twenty years of marriage, sixteen years of explaining to her kids why their dad constantly left, why she was always so sad. Had Cooper and Lila ever interacted with kids their own age? Would Nathaniel even know Clint when he did return? So much life had been wasted living on that farm so he could play hero and keep them safe.

At one point she had thought it was what she wanted.

“I’m not ready to do that, but I’m also not going back.”

\----------

For some reason his dad thought this would be a good idea. Summer at the compound wouldn’t be the vacation he envisioned, spending most of his days with Ned and MJ, but now it would be two and half months of work. Especially if Tony actually planned on going through with this young heroes training camp. Which he didn’t need. Training with inexperienced kids his age sounded fun for like a day, but he had already been acting as a superhero for over a year.  
Did his dad really see him as inexperienced as these other kids?

“Are you also a problem child?” She wasn’t addressing any of them in particularly. 

They had been sitting in the common room for ten minutes now while their parents talked about them privately. The lanky bubbly girl bounced on the couch she was on, but the boy beside her didn’t seem to mind. His gaze fixed on his phone. “I’m Shuri by the way,” she added almost nervously when no one responded.

That was another thing that was unnerving. He had never met these people, and all of a sudden his dad trusted them with his biggest secret. “If you’re going to train with them then they have to know you’re Spiderman,” he had said the other night.

Across from Shuri on the other couch sat a boy and a girl who looked very similar to each other. He waved, “I’m Cooper and this is my sister Lila.” She was a short girl, but glared at all of them in a way that made up for it only offering a bored expression, not even a miniscule wave. While Cooper seemed to be friendly enough for the both of them. They had started a pattern, so Peter held up his hand awkwardly mumbling into air, “Peter.” His full name still felt weird to say out loud after years of not trusting anyone. 

Their eyes shifted to the girl who sat farthest away hiding behind wavy brown hair, her knees uncomfortably pressed to her chest. The low to the floor modern furniture was doing nothing for her. She was probably taller than Peter. “Cassie,” she whispered still not meeting any of their eyes.

“Harley,” the boy focused on his phone said clearly, but he waited a second longer before finally putting down his phone actually taking them all in. “As in Harley Keener?” Peter asked like he was seeing him for the first, and Harley looked to the boy with the neatly styled hair and curious awestruck eyes. This made no sense, of all the people in the room he should not be the one this Peter guy recognizes. 

There was something about the excited but jittery boy, something in his soft expression that made him feel like he’d carried a piece of this boy with him for a long time. His mind that had been running circles stilled, and let out a sigh of sorts.

Why he had no idea.

“Yeah?” Confusion was evident in Harley’s voice, but Peter’s only saving grace from completely humiliating himself was the small smile Harley was sporting. Harley had been the one to save his dad, since then he had felt connected to him. Lots of the things sent to Harley over the years had been approved by Peter, he probably knew more about the boy than he should for never meeting him.

He totally wasn’t panicking right now.

“My- Mr. Stark told me a lot about you,” he muttered looking to the other end of the room to hide his embarrassment. He didn’t stalk the guy or anything, but he might have harbored a small crush on him just based on the things his dad said about him, there was hope it’d disappear once he actually saw Harley.

Yeah, that wasn’t happening. 

The latest Stark Phone that was encased in red and blue, a mere coincidence Peter swears, falls from Harley’s lap as he sits up taller, and unlike earlier he seems to have no interest in picking it up. “He has?” The pride in his voice was adorable; Peter just prayed this thought was not apparent on his face.  
He’s good at lying, he thinks plastering on a false smile to make sure he doesn’t seem too excited, or at least he thought he was until this moment. 

“Welcome kiddies.” Peter was pulled from his thoughts as everyone turned to watch their parents join them back in the common room. His dad seemed jumpy fidgeting from foot to foot, and Peter waited until he called him over to approach him. “I told them.” Were the first things out of his mouth, and they weren’t spoken quietly. What could he have possibly told them that when the fact that he was already Spiderman was public knowledge to them…?

Unless…

“Guys, this is my son I was telling you about.” The adults didn’t seem bothered by this revelation, but the teens who most definitely heard were slack jawed behind him. He could sense it. Standing rigidly still he let his dad steer him closer to the adults, but couldn’t escape the mass of his mind to respond to their greetings.  
There were ways you did this, and this was not it. Secrets that were only uttered in certain company were now shouted proudly, and while Peter had wanted to come out and say it for so long, his dad had just taken that chance away with these people. The one part of secret keeping he enjoyed was the control he gained, and now it was slowly slipping away.

He looked back at the teens that had just crashed his summer vacation. Noticing Shuri had stopped talking, Cassie had leaned out of her shell to peek at the chaos, and even Lila and Cooper who wore perfect faces of cool earlier seemed taken back. Harley had contained the surprise to his eyes, but was eyeing him curiously, and his control was most definitely slipping.

**Author's Note:**

> I don't own Marvel or any of these characters.


End file.
